Simple Gestures
by muchtvs
Summary: A simple Saturday night with Kirsten and Ryan. Oneshot.


Disclaimer:  The OC and its characters belong to someone with much more money than me.

Author's note:  Something about Ryan and Kirsten's scenes together just makes me smile. They share a simple quietness and I wonder if Kirsten understands Ryan even better than Seth.  I don't have a beta, if anyone is willing, I'll hire on the spot!  I like commas.  I like them a lot.

May 8, 2004

Early Evening

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Kirsten washes out her coffee cup and places it in the dishwasher.  Looking through the small window above the sink, she spots Ryan reclining poolside, flipping through something, maybe one of Seth's comic books.  The fish shaped thermometer located just outside the windowsill registers a balmy 63, but there is a chill in the air that had been present all day, and with night approaching, it's cooling off fast.  Ryan is sporting only a thin undershirt and Kirsten's motherly instincts take over.  Walking into the living room, she grabs a throw off the couch and makes her way outside.  She closes the door behind her louder than necessary.  

Something Kirsten innately understands about her foster son; always let Ryan know your coming.

"Hey", Kirsten offers quietly, "It's getting cold out". She gently places the blanket on Ryan's lap.  The kid has goose bumps on his arms and she smiles to herself; good call on the blanket. She sits down on the seat next to him and Ryan closes the magazine he has been reading.  Kirsten confirms her previous suspicions; Ryan was indeed reading one of Seth's harmless comic books, graphic novels, whatever. Glancing at the gory cover, she rethinks the harmless notion. Ryan unfolds the blanket and pulls the throw over his upper body.  

"Thanks", he whispers, looks inquisitively at her and waits.

"So", she begins, "It's Saturday night, Seth's out with Summer; Sandy with Jimmy."  Ryan shifts his weight in the chair and adjusts the blanket.  His fingers begin playing with the small tassels hanging off it.  Kirsten waits for the boy to stop moving before adding, "And we, my friend, are a couple of losers."

Ryan lifts his head along with one eyebrow and gives her a painful smile, "Yes, thank you for pointing that out.  Seth only told me that 4 or 5 times before he left, so I had almost forgotten.  Good thing you came along."  

Kirsten laughs and pats him on the leg. "Go, grab your coat.  Let's catch a movie or something."  

Ryan stares at the pool for a moment before replying, "Ok, but you can't tell Seth because that would seriously, you know, well pretty much wipe out..", he struggles to finish the sentence without insulting her.  

Kirsten holds up her hand, "Yeah, you know what, just stop there.  Your secret is safe with me."  

Ryan smirks and stands up.  He folds the throw and places it on the lounger.  Breaking into a full-fledged grin and lifting his thumb, he points towards the pool house, "Ok, so, I'll just go grab my jacket."  

Kirsten nods and goes inside.

Something she realizes about Ryan; she loves his smiles. They remind her of why she capitulated.  

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Inside her bedroom, Kirsten changes into a peach short sleeve sweater and drapes the matching long sleeve one over her shoulders.  She walks into the kitchen to wait for Ryan, listening to the silence.  No Seth, no Sandy; so quiet without the Cohen men.  Kirsten hears someone coming through the front door and curiously goes to greet the arrival, wondering if Sandy's plans have changed. She is surprised to see Ryan standing in the foyer, holding the bulky early addition of the Sunday paper in his left hand.  

"I um, well, Seth usually runs over it, or Sandy", he looks up at her through shaggy bangs. "Or you."

Kirsten ponders his words and realizes he's right.  Come to think about it, the paper has been on time and on the small table in the foyer for months.  How long has Ryan been picking up the newspaper for them?  Then she notices two small presents in his right hand, almost hidden behind his back.  

Kirsten points to them asking playfully, "What are those?"

Ryan looks around awkwardly and places the heavy newspaper down.  He shifts his right hand to the front of his body and shuffles the larger of the two gifts into his left one.  His brings his eyes up to meet hers and then quickly drops his head. "Um, well, I thought, you know, tomorrow is, you know, so.."  

Kirsten takes a step forward.  Something special is evolving in this serene silence.  Something important.  She doesn't want him to lose his courage.  

"Ryan", she inquires softly, "Are those presents for me?"

"Yes", he answers quickly, seemingly thankful that she has saved him from himself.  "Yeah, so, if we're running late", he shrugs and feigns sudden interest in his boots. "It can wait."

She takes a few more steps forward, "Ryan. Me? Presents? Wait? Please! Give them up."  She holds out her hand and Ryan side shuffles, hesitantly bridging the gap between him and Kirsten. 

He looks intently at both his hands and then offers the box in his right one, "This one first."  

It's a very small box. The shape and size remind her of a deck of cards.  Kirsten studies the package, noticing the wrapping.  The edges are perfect.

Ryan is nervously shifting his weight from one foot to the next.  To break the tension she teases, "Well, at least I know it's not a blender."

He doesn't laugh but the movement ceases and he mumbles, "I mean, it's pretty stupid.  I'm not even sure why I bothered to wrap it.  It seemed like a good idea at the time."

Kirsten shakes the present and feels a jerky movement from inside the box.  "Well Ryan I am, if nothing else, intrigued."  She begins to unwrap the gift and discovers a used cigarette box.  She looks up the boy, confused.

"I uh, it's my stress pack. I know I told you I quit, and I really did, but I didn't actually walk completely away from the stress pack.  So here, present number one, the stress pack."  Ryan lifts up his hands in surrender. "This signifies the official quitting."

Kirsten smiles and looks inside the pack.  Half of the cigarettes are still there.  Funny, given that this is the stress pack, she is amazed there are any left at all.  "Thank you Ryan.  This is truly a welcomed present."  

His body relaxes a bit and he seems more confident.  He takes another step forward and relinquishes the second gift.  It is long and rectangular, uneven, the size of a brush. 

Kirsten peels back one corner of the wrapping paper, then abandons all pretences and rips off the rest, revealing a remote control.  She creases her eyebrows and asks, "Don't tell me, you're giving up television?"

Now Ryan laughs, takes the remote from her hand, and encourages her to follow him into the living room.  "No, look", he pushes down several buttons on the remote, "It's the mother of all universal remotes.  I already programmed it for everything you have, except the Playstation of course."  Kirsten watches Ryan's body completely relax as he points out which buttons operate what.  He catches himself after a few minutes, embarrassed of his own enthusiasm, and hands the remote control back to her.  "I um, it even actually will run the TiVo.  I went ahead and preprogrammed the shows you like but can never watch and you have to pay Seth to record for you."

This last bit of thoughtfulness renders Kirsten speechless and Ryan mistakes her lack of a reaction for disappointment.  He drops his head, and kicks at that carpet.  

"I wasn't really sure what else to get.  I mean Seth and Sandy are going to give you other.." he pauses. "Stuff."  The boy, now overtly tense, kicks at the carpet some more.  "I don't know, so I couldn't really…"  Looking defeated, Ryan starts to nervously crack his knuckles.  He adds softly, "They are always losing the different remotes, I know how much it frustrates you."

Kirsten puts one of her hands over both of his frantic ones and waits patiently until Ryan can bring his eyes to meet hers.  She breaks into a genuine smile and assures him, "Ryan, I don't know what to say.  This is perfect.  I think I like this even more than the cigarettes, although if you tell anyone that, I'll deny it."

Ryan blows a relieved sigh into his hair, and nods up and down, "Ok, good.  I'll uh, explain it more tomorrow, I probably went too fast."

She agrees with him, "Yeah, just a little. But hey, how hard can a remote control be?"

Ryan looks up at her, wrinkles his nose and makes a grimaced half-smile, following it with a slight shrug.  Kirsten gets the message.  She's old. Old people and remote controls struggle to understand each other.  

Excusing herself, she heads towards the kitchen to grab her purse.  She looks for a safe place to hide the remote control from Sandy and Seth, deciding to go with the top of the fridge.  As she turns the remote over in her hand, she notices that Ryan has written in black magic marker, PROPERTY OF THE QUEEN OF THE MANOR.  This, she does not need to hide.  She walks back into the living room.  Ryan is sitting on the arm of the sofa, waiting to go.  When she enters the room he stands up and smoothes at his jeans. Most of the earlier tension has drained away. The two of them head for the foyer.

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Exiting the house, Kirsten tosses the Range Rover keys to Ryan and asks him to drive.  She closes the front door of her home; turns around, watches the boy click the car's remote starter.  He waits until Kirsten reaches the vehicle before opening the passenger side door for her.

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Kirsten learned a new thing about Ryan Atwood this evening; he prefers to celebrate Mother's Day a night early.  

She climbs into the Rover, conflicted, struggling not to cry for Dawn while secretly hoping Sandy and Seth make plans to go out next year as well.


End file.
